I bloody hope not! Riise nutmegged him twice within 5 minutes on Saturday night... He's a pace player and not much else. Good on FIFA though.
Play Theo as a striker or don't play him at all, thats my view. He doesn't need to be played up the middle or anything like that, he just needs to be played on the shoulder of the last man.
I'd keep Theo, but I'd get Hoillet (and Nzonzi) so that he wouldn't need to played when not performing.
Theo is not a winger, He's a RWF. Personally I think he and Oxo provide great competition for each other in that position. (From what I've seen of Oxo, I think he's better on the right that he is in the middle)
Walcott is more experienced and performing well at the moment, better than any other winger. As for the comparison between OXO and Walcott, there really isn't. OXO is more talented and skilled than Walcott. OXO is the complete package. OXO's natural position for the future will be more central. However, he has many different facets to his game and can play all along the front three, as well as attacking midfieldering positions. He is the most complete attacking player we have next to Wilshere.
Lets also not forget Theo is a boyhood Liverpool fan. (He even came out and said he went mental when Pool won the Champions League against Milan). Ive always said since we signed him that I have a feeling hell end up at Liverpool one day...
The thing is Theo can be frustrating to watch. Sometimes he looks top class and sometimes he's absolutely infuriating but at the end of the day he does score goals and he does get assists. Theo is quite possibly the quickest player on the planet (at least playing at the top level anyway) and is a good finisher. I dont agree with all the fans who cry out for him to be played down the middle it would require us to change to a 4411 or 442 which I dont think we have the right squad for. He is not a natural footballer but he is learning and I've always maintained he will be a 'late developer'. (I dont think we'll see the best of Theo until he is 27-28.) As a RWF Theo needs to learn how to link with the other two forwards in the same way Benzema at Madrid has done this Season.. If he improves his distribution and reading of the game we could see Theo scoring 20+ goals a season from the right. Theo is not (yet) TOP class but he's still better than most in his position. Unless we sign a truely World Class replacement selling him would just be counter productive.
Agree. Also people forget that Theo basically missed the best part of 3 season through persistent shoulder, back and hamstring problems. He might have been with us six seasons, but it's only really the last 2 that he's been a regular first team player. The boy is still only 23 and has got it all to come. If we sold him now, we'd see his best years played at another club and we'd be kicking ourselves.
problem with theo is his best asset is pace. when he reaches 29 or 30 he will struggle and have to retire early, because there really isn't much else to his game. but until then we should keep him as he is very useful. even if he is pushed out of the first XI, he would be the best impact player u could have. bring him on with 20 mins to go against a tired left back and he will rip them to shreds.
2 points. I disagree Theo is better than most in his position, it depends what position that is. As a winger you have got to be kidding me, as a striker/inside forward I agree. Second, I'm not sure many people if any have actually said play him up the middle, I don't know where you got that from. What I would like to see is him played as a wide forward, not as a winger - so he effectively gets played in, making runs from the blind side of the defender, not getting the ball and having to beat defenders like a winger. The formation doesn't need to change and even if it did, thats not a bad thing, play to your strengths and all that.
Well thats fine because we dont play 'wingers' in our system. I do despaire though when I see England playing him on the right of a 4-4-2.
Yup, me too. If we are going to play 4-4-2 to feed Carroll Adam Johnson and Ashley Young should be our wide men. I'd play Carroll with Welbeck - Welbeck is mobile and makes good runs. I think Carroll will start every game because he is that Plan B, with Rooney eventually coming in to play off him. Thats still 2 up top so I can see 4-4-2 all through the competition.
